Shocked

“Shocked and dismayed” would an apt description of my reaction to the front page article “Go Oregon – except beer? Beer tax may rise 1,900 percent” on Feb. 25.

Shocked that the newspaper, upon which I have come to depend for local news and information, would print such a blatantly irresponsible story, on the front page, no less.

And dismayed knowing that the impact of this story will go well beyond the news headlines of that day’s paper. I hope that the legislators that we have elected and the Oregon public will read beyond the story and find the true facts of the situation, facts so misrepresented and/or overlooked by this article.

Like the fact that more than 40 percent of alcohol is consumed by people considered heavy binge drinkers. Or the fact that more than 30 percent of beer sales go to minors; sales that are directly impacted by the price of beer.

Or the fact that not only does Oregon rank 49th in the nation in terms of access to drug and alcohol treatment services but that an 82-percent cut to those services is now being proposed. Or the fact that alcohol abuse and alcoholism already cost each Oregonian $683 annually.

I also hope that our newspaper will choose its headlines on important topics like this more carefully in the future so that our community and our state can find fruitful and constructive ways to go forward that seek the betterment of all, rather than just a few.

Andrew Wendle
Pastor, Our Redeemer Lutheran
Hood River

Friends of Franz

We would like to thank the following people for the care and concern for my wife, our mother, and my grandma:

Hood River County dispatcher Jennifer Kimball, for caring so much and, yet, being very professional at the same time.

West Side Fire Department Quick Response for their outstanding response to the house and taking over.

Hood River EMS for being a big part of keeping Joanne alive and her safe transport to the hospital.

Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital ER and Critical Care staff for their knowledge and diligence in stabilizing Joanne for her transport to Portland.

Providence Portland CICU staff for making it come together and bringing Joanne back to us.

Thank you all!

Randy, Luke and Joshua Franz,
Hiedi Lee
Hood River

Awesome help

I would like to take this time to thank everyone for all their support during the time I was down. From all the friends who were at the hospital, giving me and my family support, bringing clothes or just stopping by to keep us company, to those who cleaned our house while we were gone.

I can’t count how many get well cards I have received and am still receiving on a daily basis. To those of you who have sent cards, thank you very much for the kind words and prayers. It’s nice to know we have so many concerned friends out there.

We have had so many people bring us food or left us with certificates for restaurants, so Randy doesn’t have to cook too much, and to those people, please know how much we have appreciated the food.

The plants and flowers have been very beautiful and I have loved them all, so thanks for the colorful arrangements. We have had people give us gas cards to help defray the cost of gas going back and forth to Portland and I have had people chauffeur me around to appointments or just to get out, since I can’t drive yet — thank you so much for helping.

And let’s not forget the people who have come to sit with me so Randy could work for a couple hours or just go get out, since I can’t drive yet — he appreciated that more than you know.

There is no way I can send a thank you to all of you, but know that I know each and every one of you and I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, so very much for just being there for me and my family. We love you all.

A special thanks goes to the West Side Quick Response and Hood River EMTs for their part in keeping me alive and caring so much through the ordeal. You guys are awesome!

Joanne Franz
Hood River

On, Obama

Sometimes a boondoggle can result in a boon. President Obama’s nomination of former Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle as Secretary of State was seen by many as an embarrassing and regrettable blunder. Perhaps the most qualified person in the country for the job, his “Blue Tuesday” resignation in the face of mounting criticism over unpaid taxes seems like a great loss to a nation in dire need of rebuilding a broken health care system.

But I am inclined to believe that it will be remembered more for the way that it illumined and strengthened Obama’s image as a wise and principled national leader. Never before have we heard a U.S. president say “I screwed up.” Can you imagine either of the Bushes, Nixon, Clinton or Reagan openly admitting a mistake at any time, let alone during his first month in office?

Obama even went on to say that he would probably make more mistakes, mistakes he also will not hide from the American people. As for the Daschle affair, he further stated that as much as he regretted losing Daschle as a Cabinet advisor, there will no longer be two laws in Washington — one for the privileged and powerful and one for the rest of us.

I can’t think of a more refreshing reassurance — that this time we picked the right president.

David C. Duncombe
White Salmon, Wash.

Medicare threat

During this meltdown of the economy I have felt like one of the lucky few. My husband and I own our home and we receive a steady income from Social Security, and we have health care, partially financed through a Medicare-based health plan.

But now I understand that Medicare and Social Security are under a renewed attack by so-called fiscal conservatives, including “Blue Dog (anti-deficit) Democrats.” The attack is funded by the private-equity investor Peter G. Peterson, who launched a billion-dollar foundation last year to warn that America faces $56.4 trillion in “unfunded liabilities.”

Supposedly, these costs will depress economic growth and crowd out other needed outlays, such as investments in the young. The remedy: big cuts in programs for the elderly.

The deficit hawks are promoting a “grand bargain” in which a bipartisan commission enacts spending caps on social insurance as the offset for current deficits. This deficit, though, was not caused by Social Security (which has always paid its way) but by the excesses of Wall Street and two expensive wars.

Thankfully, according to the writer Robert Kuttner, in an article in the Washington Post, President Obama and leading Democrats have other plans for reducing the deficit without throwing the elderly to the dogs. He says Medicare is in trouble and needs to be reformed.

He believes, and so do I, that a universal health plan would fix that and benefit all segments of the general public.

But watch out: This attack on Social Security and Medicare will continue, and the strategy of pitting youth against the elderly will be renewed with great vigor. So all of us, young and old, must fight to save Social Security and reform Medicare. It benefits the elderly now, but will be necessary for the young also when they retire. We must write or phone our leaders in Washington.

Let our voices be heard!

Anne Vance
Hood River

GPSO month

Underpopulation is not a word, but its time has come.

For 40 years we’ve suffered various warnings of deprivation due to overpopulation. Even as old warnings become new facts of life, we ignore the problem of too many people and quibble about how to patch the symptoms.

For example, our growing numbers are used to excuse, as a necessary evil, the costly radioactive hazards of nuclear power, when instead a campaign to reduce our population and energy demand is both simple and prudent.

Once in my 60 years I saw people, conservative and liberal, join a campaign to improve their lives and their children’s lives. We knew smoking was bad for us, but we (cough) quit only after it was painfully obvious we had been duped, lied to, manipulated, and poisoned by tobacco companies that cared more about profits than people.

Have capitalists who cared more about profits than people fooled us into believing overpopulation is good? One indication we are believers is that overpopulation, a word in popular use for 40 years, has no opposite; underpopulation is not in the dictionary.

Underpopulation (having plenty for all) is a nightmare for economists and their clients; underpopulation breaks their profit machine of growing demand for declining supply.

Capitalism of unending growth is a king-of-the-hill game. Underpopulation levels the playing field with capitalism of, by, and for the people in a marketplace of sustainable and safe technologies, living-wage jobs, and products growing in quality not quantity.

For years we’ve suffered repeated advice that, with ingenuity, there will be plenty for all and it’s our fault if we don’t grab our share. Well, it’s painfully obvious there’s not plenty for all. We’ve foolishly believed growth is good for us when, in fact, it’s our undoing.

We’ve been duped, lied to, manipulated, and poisoned by capitalists who care more about profits than people. This may be the only reason people, conservative and liberal, join an underpopulation campaign to improve our lives and our children’s future.

February is Global Population Speak Out month. Google it.

Bruce Howard
Hood River

Caring place

Last January my family came together at Hood River for the memorial service for Jim Beals.

Your community treated us graciously and helped us through a difficult time. I was particularly impressed with the examples I saw of the way people in Jim’s church and your city cared for my sister and her family. I know from what my sister has told me that the support we got during our time with you was just a small example of the ongoing support you have provided her family during this difficult time.

Thank you again for being an example of a caring community.

Robert Lynn Green
Oklahoma City, Okla.

Protect brewers

Re: The subhead “Beer tax may raise 1,900 percent” and your editorial in the same issue (Feb. 25).

“Beer, America’s beverage of moderation. Beer belongs, enjoy it” was the positioning taken by the United States Brewing Association in 1963. At that time, I worked for BBDO, suppliers of advertising to Lucky Lager (LA), Storz (Omaha) and Schaefer (New York). Hundreds of locally owned breweries were folding under the competitive push of Budweiser, Miller and Pabst.

Beer was becoming a bland beverage with no taste or pride in brewing other than the power of the eidetic image of Clydesdales and the weight of gross TV rating points. The choice for a good beer was limited to imports. And, worse, the knowledge of what a good beer even tasted like had almost disappeared.

But slowly, because of dedicated and knowledgeable brewers like Anchor Steam in San Francisco and Yuengling & Son Brewing, Pottsville, Pa., who continued to offer a superior product, the hope that a good beer could be made locally grew and has now been realized.

There are now more than 1,400 breweries in the U.S. and more than 30 of the top 50 breweries produce the traditional all-malt beer styles that define a craft brewer. And, most importantly for Oregonians, half of the top-50 brewers can be found in just five states, according to the Brewers Association.

California, Oregon, Colorado, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania collectively host nearly 500 breweries including 25 of the top 50 domestic producers (five top-50 breweries each in Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin with six in California and four in Colorado.).

I can only hope your editorial and story on behalf of locally owned and locally brewed Full Sail, Double Mountain, Big Horse and Elliot Glacier are read and heeded by the powers-that-be in Salem. A 1,900-percent tax increase on products that have helped put Hood River and Oregon on the map for quality, locally produced products and added to local employment does not deserve this.

What’s next — the hard-working, time-and-labor intensive wine industry?

Dick Swart
Hood River